The Waffle House restaurant chain is adding a surcharge of 50 cents per egg due to the shortage caused by a bird flu outbreak.
The 24/7 restaurant said that the resulting egg shortage has led to a dramatic increase in its costs. The U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts egg prices could rise an additional 20% over the course of the year.
For Tastee Diner in Bethesda, Maryland, the egg shortage hasn’t forced the establishment to raise prices quite yet, but, manager Beth Cox told WTOP they will likely be pushed to do it by next week.
“We will raise out prices on the menu in the next week or so, but I can’t pass that on to my customer that quickly,” Cox said, noting it takes time to do a complete menu update.
Cox said she’s seen egg prices rise and fall some. “But I’ve never seen egg prices this high,” she said.
“The egg prices have never been this high, and they will go down some when this is over, but they never go completely down.”
While a few cents per egg may not mean much, it adds up when your business is buying over 3,500 eggs a week, she said.
WTOP’s Luke Lukert spoke to two Tastee Diner customers on how the egg shortage is affecting their usual breakfast routines. While one regular diner said the price changes wouldn’t affect his ordering habits, another said he might just opt for a different meal, if necessary.
Diner Gregory Urban told Lukert it would likely be years before the industry is be able to bounce back from the bird flu-related deaths and culling.
The bird flu outbreak has prompted the deaths and culling of millions of wild and domestic birds. Latest data from the US Department of Agriculture states the virus was found across 84 commercial and backyard flocks.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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